Happiness is the Best Revenge
by henriettaline
Summary: Short oneshot scene: Backstage at Regionals, Rachel and Finn run into Jesse St. James.


Disclaimer: I do not own Glee or any of its characters.

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><p>Newly changed into his performance outfit, Finn looked at himself in the washroom mirror, adjusting his tie. He stiffened when he heard a familiar voice coming from outside.<p>

"Well hello, Rachel. You look lovely." Jesse St. James, jackass.

"Hello Jesse," Rachel replied, outside the washroom door. "Scouting out the competition? I heard you might be around."

"Were you hoping to find me?" Jesse's voice was smarmy. Finn frowned, turned away from the mirror, and strode to the washroom door.

"Actually I'm waiting for Finn," Rachel said.

"Finn? Please tell me you're not still with that dumbass," Jesse said.

Finn's ire skyrocketed, and he was about to burst through the door to face off against Jesse when he felt a hand on his arm. He looked back to see Kurt.

"Dumbass?" Rachel's voice was tense.

"I think she can handle this," Kurt whispered to him. Finn frowned and edged closer to the door, just in case Rachel needed him, he told himself.

"If you're looking for a dumbass, Jesse, try the mirror," Rachel said, irate. "You'll find a guy that tried to endear himself to a girl by insulting the love of her life."

Finn smiled. He never got tired of hearing her call him that. Even better when she was proclaiming it to someone else. And better still when it was her obnoxious ex.

"The love of your life? Come on, Rachel, that's ridiculous. We're the perfect match, not you and him."

"We may have been a lot alike two years ago, Jesse, but I like to think I've grown up. And the schoolgirl crush I had for someone who was intentionally manipulating me doesn't remotely compare to the love I have for Finn. Yes, we're different, but it's in ways that help us balance each other out."

"You can't be serious."

"Of course I'm serious. I suppose I can understand why you don't think so, I mean you find the love of your life right back in that mirror -"

"That's not fair. I loved you," Jesse protested, cutting her off. Finn listened to the rap of Rachel's heels as she took a step back, and tensed himself to spring to her rescue if she needed him.

"Oh really? All those eggs must have distracted me from it."

"I apologized for that last year," Jesse said. He was pleading a bit, clearly off his game. "I shouldn't have, not for just a fourth title. But you can understand that, you've experienced the other side of it, all that regret knowing that when he kissed you he cost you your shot -" Jesse stopped as Rachel started to laugh. "What's so funny?" He sounded increasingly annoyed.

"We don't regret it," Rachel explained. "Of course it was unprofessional, and we shouldn't have, but I don't regret that Finn and I kissed, not for a moment. The only regret I have is that I made it necessary then by not kissing him earlier."

Finn smirked. Rachel sounded smug; he could tell she was enjoying getting on Jesse's nerves, and he really liked what she was saying. He pulled himself up to his full height and sauntered through the door.

"Everything ok, babe?" He smiled down at Rachel as he put his arm around her shoulders. "Oh hi Jesse. I heard you were back with Vocal Adrenaline." He leaned on the last four words, implying that for all his ambition and ego Jesse had really gone nowhere.

Rachel flashed a smile back up at him in return. "No problems, Finn. I was just trying to correct Jesse's mistaken opinion about our kiss at Nationals last year."

Finn nodded confidently at Jesse, who looked discomfited but nodded back. "Really," Finn commented.

"Yes. Jesse seems to be under the impression that it was merely _you_ kissing _me_. But of course that's impossible." She put her arm around Finn's waist and gave Jesse a dazzling smile. "With our height difference it really has to be mutual. I leaned up to Finn, you can see it in the video."

"Yeah, you can check it out on YouTube," Finn said, the corner of his mouth starting to turn up. Jesse's jaw was slack.

"Or we could demonstrate," Rachel said with a smug chirp.

"No, Jesse needs to get to his seat or he'll miss the Warblers," Finn said. "Though we should find ourselves a quiet corner, babe. I mean, we wouldn't want to be _unprofessional_ later."

Rachel giggled. "Bye Jesse." They nodded at him and turned away as he reflexively nodded back. They managed to get halfway down the hall and turn the corner before bursting out laughing, burying their heads into each others' shoulders to muffle it.

"Oh Finn... the look on his face..." Rachel got out.

"That was fun," Finn laughed.

"It was," Rachel agreed. Finn's face was close to hers, so she leaned up to give him a light kiss. "And you're quite right."

"About what?"

"Well, if we're going to be able to control ourselves on stage, especially singing and dancing together, we should take the edge off it now. Sometimes the urge to kiss you is just so strong."

"You're amazing, Rach," Finn said, grinning. "I love you."

"I love you too, Finn." She took his hand and led him down the hallway.


End file.
